MUSKEGON, MI – Two century-old artillery cannons in Veteran’s Memorial Park are visible for the first time in a long while, thanks to a crew of volunteers who worked Monday, Sept. 9.

“This used to be called ‘Michigan’s most beautiful mile,’ and that’s our goal,” said Muskegon County Commissioner James Derezinski. The Vietnam veteran used a chainsaw to hack at weeds and scrub trees during the cleanup Sunday.

About 35 volunteers from Northside Lions Club, county commissioners and local veterans helped pull out invasive species and scrub trees on the island in the middle of the park that have blocked the view into the island.

The island, with its cannons and a flagpole, is the centerpiece of the 28-acre park in the median of the causeway between Muskegon and North Muskegon. But the cannons have been nearly invisible because of the cattails and scrub trees growing around the island.

Designed in 1906, the 4.7-inch field guns were produced for World War I and only a few remain on display worldwide, according to local veteran and historian Lupe Alviar Jr.

On Monday, the volunteers cleared out the overgrowth so the cannons could be seen by motorists on the causeway.

Kathy Evans, environmental planning program manager at the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission, helped volunteers decide which plants to root out, targeting invasive species and pruning back native species, like dogwood saplings.

With the excitement, volunteers are starting to also realize not only the park’s potential, but how far some parts of the park have fallen. The cannons, for instance, have rusted through in some places. The chamber of one of the guns has rust holes big enough to put fingers into.

“Why do all the improvements when the mainstay, the cannons, looks like crap?” Alviar said.

Veteran's Memorial Park cleanupMembers of the Muskegon Northside Lions Club and other volunteers worked on cleaning up overgrown vegetation at the Veteran's Memorial Park on September 9, 2013.

A concrete base for the flag pole also appears to be cracked, he said.

The group has a fund set up at the Community Foundation for Muskegon County to collect funds for cleanup projects at the park. They’re also hoping to connect with individuals able to assist with metal work or woodworking to fix the cannons.

Although the park is a project of MDOT, located between Muskegon and the city of North Muskegon, and owned by Muskegon County, the Northside Lions Club has helped to coordinate much of the cleanup efforts, Cobler said.

“We don’t have anything to prove to anybody,” Cobler said.

On Monday, several local governments helped with the cleanup. Inmates from the Muskegon County Jail would help haul away the brush, Cobler said, and tools and a wood chipper were being provided by Muskegon.